Sheriff Steve Loftis graciously welcomed The Times Examiner to his office recently and spoke to us about his bid for re-election.
“Don’t call me Sheriff” was the first thing he said, and he smiled broadly, extending his hand. He walked easily down the short hall and into his office offering a chair. He most definitely was comfortable with his surroundings. As he spoke of his beginning in law enforcement in Anderson, SC, as a ‘beat-cop’ in 1974 and then his move to Greenville in ’77, he stated matter-of-factly, “I enjoy coming to work!” Working his way up through the ranks under then Sheriff Johnny Mack Brown he learned “A professional character driven system.” When he (Sheriff Brown) retired in 2000 after 24 years and Sam Simmons was sworn in, “I was asked to be the Chief Deputy.” At this point Steve paused quietly, and said, “Then, on duty, he died.” He went on to serve as Interim Sheriff and, based on South Carolina law, there would have to be an election because of the balance of term remaining. “I cared deeply about the men and women here, so I decided to get involved.” He ran for Sheriff in 2003 and was elected with a 95% margin. This was repeated in 2008 when he won with a 70% margin. And now in 2012 he faces a rematch with Dexter L. Reaves, a former deputy who now works as an intervention specialist at Southside High School.
Sheriff Loftis speaks very fondly of the men and women who do the work in “Our Agency.” He is justifiably proud of the fact that GCSO is accredited by the Commission for Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) and that they met all 434 of the standards. “We were the 1st agency in the state to accomplish this. We take pride in our conduct, our professionalism, and we live by the ‘Golden Rule.’” He noted that he is unashamed of his faith based beliefs and behavior, pointing to a Bible on his desk, “I have my priorities in order. We start every Command Staff Meeting with a prayer.”
When asked how he feels about where the Sheriff’s Office stands today, he is straight to the point. “The people of Greenville County know we care. We send them the message. Greenville is a safe haven. Crimes against people were down 12% last year. We get along well with the community. We added 50 neighborhood watches last year. We get involved.”
Steve also is keen to speak about his interest in stemming underage drinking. “Our alcohol enforcement team, using underage buyers, is experiencing a ‘buy rate’ of 9.1%, and that was 45% just 5 years ago. Sheriff Loftis made sure that we spoke about the Agency’s K-9 program. “Some years ago, a ‘generous’ drug dealer donated a house and 62 acres to the County, which we have since modified into a state-of-the-art training facility. We save the taxpayers money by sending a trainer to be trained, and then we do our own training locally at very low cost.” He noted that many agencies in the area are given utilization of the training and facility which saves them money as well.
Looking to the future, Sheriff Loftis wants to “Make a larger dent in the drugs and narcotics activity. Those are the root cause of so many crimes. I also want to look to the future and stay on top of technology, as that will reduce manpower costs.” On a more serious note, he considered carefully before speaking, “I really want to understand the construct of the generation that is now coming into the field. We have a 4% turnover rate, and I want to work on that and get it lower.”
“I have spent one-half my life serving the citizens of Greenville County. My reputation speaks for itself. Honesty, character and integrity with my priorities in order, I am willing to do what it takes. I want to remain proactive and prevent things from happening before they happen.”
